Right, so… yet another fic. See if you can guess who the people are in this first chapter! You'll know most of them, but not all. If you know them, they belong to JKR. Otherwise, they're figments of my imagination.
It was a small, neat, whitewashed cottage, out by the edge of a moor. A tidy, flourishing garden surrounded the house, filling the air with the sharp scents of lavender and rosemary, and the earthy tang from the vegetable patch. It looked unearthly out in the middle of nowhere, the full moon and an autumn frost accenting the scene with silver gilt. The hour was 4 AM, when the entire world seems deserted and still, as if holding its breath while the moon sets.
The moment the moon sank below the horizon, the screams began.
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At the same moment, several hundred miles away, a boy bolted upright in his bed, nearly smacking his forehead against the wall. Panting hard, he fumbled in the darkness for his glasses, setting them firmly on his nose. Not that it did any good. The cupboard that served him for a room was still pitch black, and even had it not been, the hot tears running down his cheeks would have blinded him. Silent tears. Even at five years old, he knew better than to cry out for comfort that wouldn't be forthcoming. All that sobs produced was anger.
Outside, an old woman looked sadly at the boy's house, then went home to feed her cats.
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Not so very far from the five year old's neighborhood, an elegant mansion was rocked with sounds of conflict. A drunken roar, the tinkle of breaking glass, thwack of flesh hitting flesh, an hour of silence punctuated by the whimpering of an infant. Inebriated snores, angry sniffles, drawers being stealthily opened and closed. The rising sun cast a benevolent eye on the very pregnant woman slipping out the door, weighed down with luggage, and a pair of sleeping toddlers. The heavy veil across her face did little to hide the rapidly darkening bruise across her cheekbone, although it did disguise the unkempt appearance of her dark hair. She held her wand out imperiously.
The man left sleeping on the floor inside didn't stir as his family got on the Knight Bus.
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Meanwhile, on an island surrounded by soul-sucking guards, an innocent man laughed.
Wow. That chapter was surprisingly short given how much I tried to say. So, all the major characters have been introduced! What do you think?